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Friday, September 16, 2011

Market Fresh

Checked out Cassis Bistro a couple of weeks ago. Located on the main floor of the new Casel condo building on 17th near Crowchild, Cassis Bistro features a market next door similar to Mercato, except French cuisine is served instead of Italian... The decor is simple and tasteful; Lightly coloured walls contrasted the dark furnishings. We were promptly seated upon arriving. Only a few tables were occupied when we arrived. The menu offers wide variety of dishes so there is always something for everyone.

To start, we had the sautéed shrimp. It came on a bed of zucchini and arugula. I was super impressed with the uniformity of the julienned zucchini. It looked like a plate of spaghetti. The sautéed shrimps were cooked to perfection. Sautéed in butter and garlic, the meat was firm and most definitely delicious. My only complaint was that it was a tad oily.

For my main, I had the lamb skewers. Solid sized cubes of tasty marinated lamb were speared with a brochette and alternated with onions and peppers. Each order came with two skewers. The meat was very tender and flavourful. A baked tomato provencal (Tomato stuffed with bread crumbs) accompanied the skewers with a bed of gnocchi underneath. So good!

My mom had the salmon which featured skin that was crispier than the leading brand of potato chips. Not even exaggerating. Ok. Maybe a little bit. But super crispy nonetheless. More testimonials here. Not only did it have super crispy skin, it also featured super moist flesh. A very solid dish. As for the side, this dish featured a tomato, zucchini and eggplant tian and salad. A tian, in a F-Log For Thought style description (Basically one giant run-on sentence), consists of paper thin slices of vegetables layered over each other and baked into a strip of glorious crusty awesomeness. What's so great about it is that the flavours of each ingredient is melted into the next. Heaven!

Atmosphere: 8 out of 10. The interiors was simple and clean. Large windows let in ample natural light to keep things nice and bright. Food: 8 out of 10. Food was pretty amazing. Ingredients were fresh. Extra points for potato chip-esque salmon skin.Presentation: 7 out of 10. Above average presentation.Price: 6.5 out of 10. A tad on the expensive side but well worth the money.Service: 8 out of 10. Friendly and attentive service. Our server was very knowledgable of the dishes. Overall: 7.5 out of 10. A great little place.